IBC 'Content Everywhere' Rolls Out In Amsterdam

The International Broadcasting Convetion (IBC) has announced a new series of global events focussing on video and linked content over mobile and internet, to be held in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
Beginning with a live trial at this year's IBC show in Amsterdam before moving onto São Paulo and Dubai, 'IBC Content Everywhere' will bring together producers of media, device makers, app builders, digital marketeers, big data and cloud services in a series of new shows.
"Video is a huge part of the traffic over the internet, this can’t be regarded as a bolt-on to existing broadcast infrastructure," says Michael Crimp, CEO of IBC.
"One third of the planet will have fixed broadband by 2017, and this demands new business models; platform-specific content; and will appeal to a mobile-centric audience. The challenge is to create business models and relationships that take advantage of this opportunity. We’re going to bring people together, to find answers to the questions presented by this, the next step in the digital revolution for media."
IBC2013 will provide visitors with the first opportunity to experience the benefits of the new scheme, when a live trial will be rolled out using Touch & Connect technology to 1,000 targeted attendees.
Users will be able to build a personal community around the people they meet and the products and services on exhibition at the show.
It will also enable exhibitors to extend their offering across continents, through a virtual presence at multiple events if they wish.
Commenting on the new developments in relation to IBC's existing 'Connected World' zone, Mr Crimp said: "The sales of smartphones in 2013 will be over 918 million - outstripping simpler models for the first time. This is a technology and a business that’s reaches into so many products and workflows, and thus every corner of IBC. We're all a part of it.
"IBC Connected World has helped us understand this new and emerging opportunity, but a discrete zone is not the right vehicle to move forward. And IBC’s experience of the IBC Connected World plus significant background research and market investigation has allowed us to create market leadership in this area. IBC Content Everywhere is a big step-change development on from this, from a show feature into an entirely fresh series of events where participants can be located in any hall at any event."
Speaking of the choice of São Paulo and Dubai as venues for IBC Content Everywhere, Michael Crimp went on to say: "Latin America and the Middle East combine massive penetration and use of mobile technology, particularly for video and social media, with a thriving economy. For instance, Brazil - host of the 2016 Olympics - is the seventh largest internet audience in the world. The Middle East has over 284 million mobile users, with a market increasing at twice the speed of both Western Europe and North America combined. These are hotspots of real growth, and therefore IBC want to offer a haven for building relationships in those regions. Such relationships will be the bedrock from which new offerings will be built."
www.ibc.org
Article by Iain Todd
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